...an award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics-from today and yesterday:all 32 Counties !Updated a number of times each week . (Mirror site here)

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"1169 And Counting is a wealth of information on our Republican past and present , and demonstrates how the Irish political landscape , like that of any nation, will never be a black and white issue..."

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Saturday, September 27, 2003

JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN : 1803 - 1849 .......

.......his parents pulled him from school in 1818 (when he was fifteen years young)as they needed him to get a job to help keep the family together ; he worked as a 'clerk' in a solicitors office , which allowed him time and space to persue his interests in poetry and politics - he had some of his articles published in Dublin periodical's .......

His published work in 'The Nation' newspaper concerned themselves with Irish poetry and short stories , and were signed as being from 'The man in the Cloak' , 'Vaccus' and 'Terrae Filius' . He was an Irish Republican at heart , and his writings could be found in the 'United Irishman' newspaper (edited byJohn Mitchel) , 'The Felon'(edited byThomas Devin Reilly) as well as Charles Gavan Duffy's'The Nation' newspaper .

James Clarence Mangan was a troubled man in his own mind ; a deep-thinker , he tended to keep to himself and , apart from his writing contacts , was not one for socialising : he apparently suffered from what we now know as 'depression' , and his 'mood swings' were no doubt exasperated by the fact that every day was a challenge for him , financially -- also , he had no-one to confide in , or lean on . (MORE LATER).

THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924.

CAHIRCIVEEN.......

".......Dan Shea's father called to Bahaghs Workhouse and enquired re the whereabouts of his son-- he had heard that the Free Staters had executed a number ofIRA prisoners ; the Free State sergeant told him" Yes , a prisoner named Shea was killed......" "

" He heard the sergeant trampling upstairs ; then, from the room above , wild singing and laughter broke out . Mr. Shea saw one of the Free State Officers at last ; a pale , foxy man - he was shaking . " Was it Mick Shea or Dan Shea was killed .... what sort of a coat had he on him ? " , the father asked . "He had a dark tweed on him and a fair hat."" It was Dan , so , and it was you killed him " , the father said . The Officer went in quickly and shut the door . A soldier came to Mrs. Riordan with a dispatch . " Sorry I am to have it to do , ma'am " , he said . It told her that her son had been killed at daybreak " in a mine explosion " .

The same message came that night to Mike Courtney's father in Spunkane ; to Dan Shea's in Island Boy ; to John Sugrue's in Ballinskelligs and to Eugene Dwyer's , in Reenieragh . It was the twelfth of March , 1923 . No mine had been laid by the Republicans near Cahirciveen . " (MORE LATER).

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE.......

[from'AP/RN', 4th November , 1993 , page 13]

Georges-Henri Beautnier , who chaired an April 1992 commission in London dealing with 'Human Rights in Northern Ireland' (sic) is on record stating that --" Direct discrimination of the most invidious kind still occurs in Northern Ireland " (sic). He stated that the London Government had demonstrated a singular unwillingness to effect real change .

.....THE MORE THEY.....

[from same as above]

In their report entitled ' Fair Employment Legislation in Northern Ireland : A Cosmetic Exercise ' , the 'Clergy for Justice' organisation stated that discrimination is still being utilised-- " in order to weaken economically the Catholic minority and to induce emigration ".

.......STAY THE SAME --->

" Loyalist killings are much more than just retaliation and revenge . The current murderous campaign against Catholics is the continuation of a long series of violent attacks on innocent and uninvolved Catholics , going back many years in our history . These attacks historically predated IRA activity . They run in parallel with , but often precede , IRA acts ."---

Friday, September 26, 2003

.......known as a bright child in the school he went to on Lord Edward Street in Dublin (then known as'Saul's Court' , James Clarence Mangan was quick to learn the Irish language .......

Although barely in his teens , he did not need to be prompted to study other languages - he was well on his way to being fluent in German , Italian , French and Spanish when his parents had no choice but to remove him from school ; they were in dire needs and their fifteen-years young son , James , would have to bring in a wage if the family were to stay together .

He got a job in a solicitors office as a 'clerk/secretary/general gofar' and was able to use his time in work to study his own preferred papers - language , poetry and politics . He would sometimes translate poems and other writings from the German language and , indeed , from the Irish language , into English , and have them published , under the name 'Clarence' , in some of Dublin's periodicals . (MORE LATER).

THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

CAHIRCIVEEN.......

.......the people of Cahirciveen knew something had happened the night before , possibly near theFree State Army Barracks ; Nurse Sloan had been called for .......

" Nurse Sloan and Nurse O'Connor went up the road towards Bahaghs . They found clumps of earth and grass flung everywhere and gaps in the road ; cartridge cases were lying about . They picked up a chain of rosary beads-- it was soaked in blood . They came to the shambles then and saw what it would not be right to describe . They did all they could - it was not much - and went back with the awful story to Cahirciveen .

Mr. Shea heard , late in the morning , of the deaths of five prisoners and he knew from the first that Dan would be one . He went to Bahaghs Workhouse and knocked on the door . There was silence in the place like death . A Sergeant came at last and answered his question . " Yes , a prisoner named Shea was killed ."(MORE LATER).

THE TRUTH .......

[from'The Sunday Business Post' , 25th January , 1998 , page 11]

....... An economist in Dublin's Trinity College , Antoin Murphy , described the 'Celtic Tiger' as - " Predominantly a high-tech multinational tiger , nurtured in a special tax reserve by Celtic tax poachers ."

The 'Celtic Tiger' made the business and political class in this State even richer , at the expense of the rest of us . It should have been strangled at birth .

.......HURTS --->

" Men will get into positions , men will hold power , and men who get into positions and hold power will desire to remain undisturbed and will not want to be removed ."

---Liam Mellows , IRA leader , as quoted on 4th January , 1922 , in relation to the 'Treaty of Surrender' .

The man was right then , and is still right - bent business leaders , bent trade union bosses and bent politicians . They should ALL be dumped in a real tiger cage .......

Thursday, September 25, 2003

JAMES CLARENCE MANGAN : 1803 - 1849.

' My Dark Rosaleen' ; a poem about the authors feelings for his country and its tradition of resistance in arms to those that would seek to rule it . The author , James Clarence Mangan , contributed written material on a regular basis to the Irish rebel newspaper 'The Nation' , and became friends with its Editor , Charles Gavan Duffy .

Born in Fishamble Street , in Dublin , in May 1803 , James Clarence Mangan did not have an easy life , or an easy death . He went to a school on Lord Edward Street (then known as'Saul's Court') and was known as a bright child ....... (MORE LATER).

THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

CAHIRCIVEEN .......

.......Mrs. Riordan , who had three sons in prison for Irish Republican activity , woke in a fit of terror one night ; she dreamed she had seen an angel , and that she had seen Free Statesoldiers pulling on a wire .......

" The shock of terror woke her ; rain was drizzling in through the window ; it was beginning to be light . Scream after scream broke from her ; she could not stop screaming , although she felt ashamed and thought the neighbours would think she had gone mad ......

In the morning the people of Cahirciveen had a thousand rumours : there were strange Free State Officers at the hotel ; they had come last night ; something had happened near the Free State barracks , up at the Workhouse -- 'Irregulars'(IRA) had laid a mine - but how could the 'Irregulars' do anything there? That road was controlled by the Free Staters , night and day .

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

.....Fitzharris was fifty years of age when he was sent to Portlaoise Prison ; he was sixty-five when he got out , and things had changed -- theRepublican Movementhad forgotten him ......

He had no job and no-where to live ; he knew no-one and no-one wanted to know him . His choice now was to live on the street or sign himself into the workhouse -- he chose the latter , and survived for the next twelve years as a pauper - between the gutter and the workhouse . He died in 1910 ( on 7th September ) aged seventy-seven . He was jobless , homeless and friendless when he died , alone , in the South Dublin Union Workhouse in James Street , Dublin .

James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris was twenty-five years young when he joined the Movement in 1858 and stayed true to his Republican principles for fifty-two years , until he died . He had a hard life , in hard times , but he came through it and never recanted his actions or his beliefs . A rebel never would ......

[END].

THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

CAHIRCIVEEN......

......twenty-five years young Dan Shea, anIRA Volunteer, was on his way to Correvoola : it was 1923 , a dangerous time for Irish Republicans......

" About two-hundred-and-fifty Free State soldiers were out that day from Waterville , searching the hills . It must be that someone gave them information on the road . A party of military burst into the wake-house and arrested four lads . Mike Courtney was taken , and John Sugrue and Willie Riordan and Eugene Dwyer . A friend of Dan's sat on his knee and covered him so that he was not seen , but the soldiers met somebody on the road who told them he was there . They went back , then , and arrested Dan .

The prisoners were taken to the Bahaghs Workhouse , near Cahirciveen. They were there still , a few days later , when the news came of the fight on Garrane . Mrs. Riordan had three sons in prison - Pete in Tralee , Pat in the Curragh Camp , and Willie , now in the Workhouse at Bahaghs . So many prisoners had been shot , she used to be anxious about Pat and Pete, but she thought Willie was safe enough . He was only eighteen years old .

One night , a couple of weeks after his arrest , she woke in a fit of terror ; she had dreamed something that made her shake from head to foot : she had been looking through a stained-glass window and saw the figure of an angel ; then she had seen Free State soldiers pulling a wire ....... (MORE LATER).

POLITICS .......

[from 'Ireland on Sunday',3rd May ,1998 , page 15]

....... In an interview , Sean(son of Charlie) Haughey stated --

-- " I do find it a little bit frustrating that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael people will come up to you and tell you its awful what they are doing to your father , and then go into the (Leinster House) Chamber and say something completely different . That can be difficult to understand ."

SUCH INNOCENCE ! Who would have believed that someone from that family , and with connections to that party , could be so naive ? Thanks for sharing that with us , Sean--- you have opened my eyes ! Nice guy's like you deserve my vote .....

.......AND PAY-PACKETS --->

[from'The Sunday Tribune' , 4th May , 1997 , page 3]

Free State President Mary Robinson was paid £2298 punts a week ! (That would be Euro 2917 aweek,every week.)

Yeah , well .... with money like that floating around , maybe Sean Haughey should'nt be so 'innocent' .

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

......the second jarvey (cab-driver) , Michael Kavanagh, also turned informer and gave information to the British which resulted in the arrest of James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris.....

When he was first arrested , the British offered Fitzharris a deal if he , too , would turn informer , but he refused . His 'trial' actually ended with him being acquitted by the jury but the Judge then halted proceedings and ordered that he be re-arrested ; he was then charged with being an 'accomplice' in the deed , found guilty , and sentenced to life . It should be remembered that during both of his 'trials' , 'Skin-the-Goat' made a mockery of the proceedings and refused to recognise the so-called "authority" of the British to carry-out such functions in Ireland .

James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris was fifty years of age when he began his life sentence - he was sixty-five when he got out of (Portlaoise) Prison , and things had changed ; his comrades were either dead or had moved away and , to the eternal shame of the Republican Movement , it turned its back on the man .......(MORE LATER).

THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .....

CAHIRCIVEEN.

" The Shea's farmhouse stands quite alone in an untravelled valley . Dan would often come down from the hills to rest there and get a meal . Noreen , his little sister , was startled out of sleep in the early morning to see a tall man standing by her bed , covering her with his gun . "Hands up!" he shouted , "have you any diehards here ?" Noreen laughed , and went to sleep again - it was only Dan at his tricks . He and some of his comrades had come down for breakfast . It was early March (1923) and the nights were cold in the hills . Mike Courtney came in later to ask would they come to the wake at Correvoola , a quiet place in the hills . It would be safe enough , the boys thought , and they went . Dan's mother looked after him from the door . He was laughing : he never put on the rifle-strap but he laughed .

He was only twenty and those were dangerous times : the thought of death in battle , for Ireland, was , maybe , sweet to Dan , but Mrs. Shea prayed that her son might live . About two-hundred-and-fifty Free State soldiers were out that day from Waterville searching the hills ......" (MORE LATER)

AND HERE's TO YOU .......

Speaking on the 'Radio Ulster'TALKBACK programme on 28th May , 1997 , Provo Councillor Alex Maskey stated that Provisional Sinn Fein Councillors would not rule out performing the 'royalist' duties of Lord Mayor of Belfast if they were elected to the post. These duties were said to include toasting the British Queen at 'Official' dinners ; attending 'Remembrance Day' ceremonies and greeting members of the British 'Royal' family visiting Belfast !.

Dunno where she is now , or what she's up to ( could still be in the job , for all I care ) but Mary Robinson(who had a handy little nixer going for herself in the Free State Presidential Palace) is on a pension of Euro 1480 , a week , every week , for the rest of her life! . And no , don't be worrying about the welfare of MR. Mary Robinson and the two young 'uns because , when Mary pops her clogs ( or steps out of her Dr. Martins or whatever the fashion is now for women !) , then the hubbie gets the pension . FOR LIFE!. Euro 1480 , a week , every week .

Keep voting out there , folks : there's lifestyles to be maintained ......

Monday, September 22, 2003

.....on 6th May , 1882 , two carriage-loads of armed Invincibles left Mulbeths Bar (12 Lower Bridge Street, Dublin) and headed for the Phoenix Park : they assassinated Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke , two top British Government Officials ......

The killings were condemned by both the Establishment and the Churches , but months went by and no arrests were made . Then , in one day , twenty-six men (all members of the 'Invincibles') were arrested and charged with the 'Phoenix Park murders' -- the men soon realised that this was no 'desperate face-saving' expedition by the British ; one of the top members of the 'Invincibles' , James Carey , had turned informer and his brother , Peter , also told the British all he knew about the group .

The other jarvey (cab-driver)Michael Kavanagh , also agreed to inform on the 'Invincibles' . Between May and December 1883 , fourteen 'Invincibles' passed through Green Street Courthouse -- eight received life sentences and six were put to death . One of those sentenced to life was James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris , who was arrested on the evidence given by the other driver , Michael Kavanagh . (MORE LATER).

THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924.

WEST KERRY - PATRICK LYNCH of Moyrisk.....

.....crying over the body of her dead husband Patrick Lynch , she was threatened with being shot herself if she did'nt back off .....

" The Free Staters carried the body of Patrick Lynch in to the house and flung him down on the floor . The baby went to him and began shaking him , calling to Dada to wake up - "and she walking in his blood" . One of the young soldiers began to cry , but others were jeering the whole time . Mrs Lynch wanted them to call the neighbours - to go for a priest , but they would do nothing . " A priest for a dead man ?" , one of them said . " What is the man's name ?" , a soldier whispered to her.

" You came out to kill a man " , she said , " and you not knowing his name ?" " I was told nothing " he replied sullenly ; " I had to come. " She turned to them then , quietly : " Tis a hard thing to say , for myself and the child ," she said , " but I'd rather see him dead on the floor before me than be the man that fired that shot ."

There was a face among them that she recognised ; the man had been Patrick's Lieutenant after 1916 . He did not speak a word the whole time .

[END]

"COME IN LUDKA - YOUR DINNERS POURED OUT ....." ......

[from 'The Sunday Business Post', 18th January , 1998 , page 5].

...... When she was Free State Minister for 'Justice' , Nora Owen (Fine Gael) granted citizenship to a Ludka Kozeny , on 21st March , 1997 . She had done the same for Kozeny's husband , Viktor , in 1995 .

This was not Viktor's first time to be mentioned in the media ; he was already famous in the Czech Republic as a 'go-getter' , a successful 'can-do' business-man , who had persuaded eight-and-a-half million people to 'invest' in his 'Harvard Group Investment Fund' , promising them a ten-fold return on their money within " a year and a day " . But the "Fund" , such as it was , failed , and Viktor legged it ! He later surfaced in London's Mayfair area , where he made the headlines again - by spending £13,000 punts (Euro 16,506 , and God knows how many Czech'whatyamaycallsit' that is !) on dinner for three people at 'LA GAVROCHE' restaurant !

Incidentally , when I knew it , 'LE GAV(which was what we called it) was owned by my old buddies , the Roux brothers . Certainly won't be dining there again ......

Sunday, September 21, 2003

JAMES 'Skin-the-Goat' FITZHARRIS : INVINCIBLE .....

.....on 6th May , 1882 , the'Invincibles' held a meeting in 'Mulbeths Public House' (12 Lower Bridge Street , Dublin) to discuss the arrival of the new British Chief Secretary , Lord Frederick Cavendish......

The route that Cavendish was to travel on his way to the Vice-Regal Lodge was known to those at the meeting . All were armed with knives (pistol-shots would only alert British patrols in the area) and two carriages were organised ; one driven by James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris and the other by Invincible member Michael Kavanagh.

James Carey led the men out of Mulbeths Bar and into the two carriages , which then headed for the Phoenix Park . The new British Chief Secretary ,Lord Frederick Cavendish and his 'Permanent Undersecretary' Thomas Henry Burke , were waylaid by the Invincibles in Dublin's Phoenix Park and assassinated ....... (MORE LATER).

THE TRAGEDIES OF KERRY , by Dorothy Macardle - first published in 1924 .

WEST KERRY - Patrick Lynch of Moyrisk.....

.....on the last day of November , 1922 , the Free Staters raided the house of Patrick Lynchand took him out into the yard ; his wife went to hide his revolver in the cupboard and get him a coat . But she heard shots from the yard .....

" She ran out - her husband's brother had disappeared . He had escaped , leaping over a wall . She could not find Patrick for a while . She found his body then , with a bullet wound through it from side to side , lying on the grass slope below the house . She knelt down ; it was too late to help him . She said -"May God have mercy on your soul ." There seemed to be scores of soldiers about ; they had the house surrounded ; they could have taken him living -- so many , and he with naked hands ....

One of the Free State soldiers shouted to her - " Get out of my way or I'll give you the contents of this ," lifting his rifle . "Shoot me !" , she said ; "I'd sooner die than be living after him ."(MORE LATER).

VOTE FOR ME ......

[from 'The Sunday Tribune' , 15th March , 1998 , page 13]

...... It was reported that 'Lucilita Bhreathnach' (Provisional Sinn Fein) publicly condemned the armed struggle during the 1994 European elections in which she was a candidate .'

Just as well she was'nt elected ; if she was prepared to sell-out while just looking for votes , imagine what she'd do if she got the seat . And what would she be prepared to sell-out on in order to keep the seat .....?

......VOTE FOR JOHNGER -->

[from 'The Sunday Tribune' , 22nd February , 1998 , page 15]

In 1986 , Gerry Adams told the 'Andersontown News' newspaper (which , incidentally , has an 'all-new-and-approved' 'Vacancies' page ; especially if you like a job with a uniform)- "If at any time (Provisional) Sinn Fein decide to disown the armed struggle they won't have me as a member ."

NOTE the "at any time" ; no "if's" or "but's" about it : must have been the last time that the bould Gerry spoke without some spin-doctors hand up his a**e !

Anyway -- I think a 'BRING BACK JOHN HUME' campaign should be launched to fill the vacancy should (when ? / if ?) Gerry leave . John Hume would fit right in , having spent a lifetime 'Stooping Down Low' .....